Herpetology Notes, volume 6: 51-53 (2013) (published online on 17 March 2013)
Tropidurus hispidus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) and Leptodactylus cf. fuscus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) as prey of the teiid lizards Salvator merianae and Ameiva ameiva Eric Aian Pereira da Silva1, Tarcísio Dourado Santos1, Graziela Nunes Leite1 and Leonardo Barros Ribeiro1,2,* The teiid lizard Ameiva ameiva (Linnaeus, 1758) (Fig. 1A) is one of the most widely distributed New World lizards, occurring from Southern Mexico, Central America and a large part of South America (Vanzolini, 1972). In Brazil, it inhabits several different ecosystems, is one of the most conspicuous members of lizard assemblages (Vitt and Colli, 1994; Silva et al., 2003; Sales et al., 2011), and is primarily terrestrial and diurnal (Vitt, 1995). Salvator merianae Duméril & Bibron, 1839 (Fig. 2) is distributed in countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, inhabiting both forests and open areas (Kiefer and Sazima, 2002; Vanzolini et al., 1980), and in Brazil was introduced to the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, in Pernambuco state. These two lizards are generally the two largest species (excluding Iguana iguana, a herbivore) of the lizard community in a number of Brazilian localities (Vitt, 1991; Avila-Pires, 1995; Vitt, 1995). Ameiva ameiva is medium sized (maximum SVL of 183.0 mm), while S. merianae is large (maximum SVL of 406.0) (Vitt, 1995). The diet of A. ameiva is composed mainly of arthropods (Vitt and Colli, 1994; Sales et al., 2010), in addition to mollusks and plant matter (leaves and fruits) (Sales, Ribeiro and Freire, 2011; Silva et al., 2003). The diet of S. merianae is omnivorous, composed of invertebrates, eggs, carcasses, plants and fruits (Kiefer and Sazima, 2002; Péres Júnior, 2003; Castro and Galetti, 2004). Vertebrates have also been reported as food items for both A. ameiva (Vitt, 1995; Zaluar and Rocha, 2000; Pinho et al., 2010; Sales et al., 2010; Sales, Ribeiro and
1 Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco - UNIVASF, Campus Ciências Agrárias, CEP 56300-990, Petrolina, PE, Brasil. 2 Centro de Conservação e Manejo de Fauna da Caatinga (CEMAFAUNA-CAATINGA), Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco - UNIVASF, Rodovia BR 407, km 12, Lote 543, s/nº - C1, CEP 56300-990, Petrolina, PE, Brasil. *Corresponding author; e-mail:
[email protected]
Freire, 2011) and S. merianae (Vitt, 1995; Kiefer and Sazima, 2002; Péres Júnior, 2003; Castro and Galetti, 2004). Here we present the first occurrence of the frog Leptodactylus cf. fuscus as prey of A. ameiva, as well as the lizard Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) in the diet of S. merianae. One adult female A. ameiva (162.0 mm SVL) was collected on 8 August, 2009, in the municipality of Mauriti (7,495ºS; 38,750ºW; altitude: 374 m), Ceará state, by a team of biologists from the Center for Conservation and Management of Caatinga Fauna (CEMAFAUNA-CAATINGA). One subadult male S. merianae (250.0 mm SVL), a road-kill victim, was collected on 22 November, 2011, by one of us (LBR) on highway BR 407, Petrolina township (9,343ºS; 40,557ºW; altitude: 390 m), in Pernambuco state. Both lizards were deposited in the Herpetological Collection of the Caatinga Fauna Museum of CEMAFAUNACAATINGA (MFCH 061, 730), on the Agrarian Sciences Campus of Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco, Petrolina, Brazil. During inspection of the stomach of A. ameiva a Leptodactylus cf. fuscus (35.0 mm in length [SVL], 10.0 mm in width and 1,833 mm3 in volume) was found (Fig. 1B), in addition to other items such as Araneae, Coleoptera and Hemiptera. In the stomach contents of S. merianae four separate digits, a partial hind leg and a tail from T. hispidus were found. Based on literature records, vertebrates such as fish, amphibians, lizards, birds and small mammals are important food items in the diets of A. ameiva and S. merianae (Vitt, 1995; Conners, 2010; Sales, Ribeiro and Freire, 2011). For A. ameiva, a case of anurophagy involving Scinax x-signatus (Hylidae) was described in an area of Caatinga (Sales, Ribeiro and Freire, 2011). The hylid Scinax cuspidata has also been reported as prey of A. ameiva (Rocha and Vrcibradic, 1998). Other studies have reported lizards as prey items of this species, as follows: Kentropyx calcarata and K. striata
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Eric Aian Pereira da Silva et al. of the lizard Basiliscus basiliscus (Lieberman, 1980) as well as an attempted predation on the amphisbaenid Leposternon microcephalum (Ubaid, Nascimento and Maffei, 2009). Among vertebrates reported as prey of S. merianae, there are records of Oryzomys sp. (Rodentia: Cricetidae), carcass of Dasypus novemcinctus (Cingulata: Dasypodidae) and a litter of Passer domesticus (Passeriformes: Passeridae) (Kiefer and Sazima, 2002). There are also reports of opportunistic predation on marine birds and nests of the marine turtle Chelonia mydas in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (Péres Júnior, 2003). Records of saurophagy involve the mabuyid lizard, endemic to the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Trachylepis atlantica (Péres Júnior, 2003), and evidence of T. torquatus predation reported by Arruda et al. (2007) in a study in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil.
Figure 1. Above: Adult female Ameiva ameiva. Photo: R.F.D. Sales. Below: Leptodactylus cf. fuscus as prey of Ameiva ameiva from Mauriti, Ceará state, Brazil. Photo: M. Gogliath.
(Teiidae) (Magnusson and Lima, 1984; Vitt, 2000), Tropidurus torquatus (Tropiduridae) and Brasiliscincus agilis (Mabuyidae) (Zaluar and Rocha, 2000), Dactyloa aeneus and D. richardii (Polychrotidae) (Simmons et al., 2005), Ameivula ocellifera (Teiidae) (Gogliath, Ribeiro and Freire, 2010) and Vanzosaura rubricauda (Gymnophthalmidae) (Sales et al., 2010). There are also reports of opportunistic predation on nests of the turtle Trachemys scripta (Moll and Legler, 1971) and eggs
Figure 2. Specimen of Salvator CEMAFAUNA-CAATINGA.
merianae.
Photo:
Acknowledgements.We thank the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) for issuing the collection licenses (nº 042/2007 - CGFAP; 295581). Raul F.D. Sales provided useful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.
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Accepted by Philip de Pous
